Papers of John Adams, volume 21

411 John Adams to George Washington, 10 August 1795 Adams, John Washington, George

To George Washington

Dear Sir Quincy August 10th. 1795

The inclosed Letters No. 6. 7. 8 and 9, especially the last, contain Information of so much Importance that, although they are written in great confidential Freedom from a son to a Father, I think it my Duty to transmit them to you.1

I beg the favour of having them returned to me at your Leisure by the Post.

The unnatural Effervescence against the Treaty which broke out in Boston has made little progress in the Country and is fast evaporating. What Efforts may be made in the southern States, We are not yet informed.2 But as The Faith and Honour both of the President and Senate are clearly pledged, What but a total overthrow both of the constitution and Administration can be aimed at, by the opposition I cannot conceive. With great Respect / and a Strong attachment I have the / Honour to be, Dear sir your Friend and / servant

John Adams

RC (National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg:Suhtelen P. K. Coll.); internal address: “The President / Genl. Washington”; endorsed: “From / The Honble. Jno Adams / 10th. Augt. 1795”; docketed: “Successor of General Washington / as President of the United / States of America—”

JA enclosed JQA’s missives of 12 Feb., 1 April, 4 May, and 22 May. His letters of 12 Feb. and 22 May are above. In his 1 April letter, JQA observed that a circle of Dutch Patriots were reorganizing the government and drafting a new constitution, adding that peace between France and Prussia seemed imminent. As JA explained in his 25 Aug. reply, such detailed reportage was critical to read and circulate at home, rendering JQA’s letters “in So much request in this Country that I can never keep them long enough to make regular Answers to them” (JQA, Writings , 1:310–316, 339–344; AFC , 11:20).

In the wake of the Senate’s 24 June ratification of the Jay Treaty, Federalist and Democratic-Republican factions sought to sway the president prior to his signing it, via pamphlets and public meetings. On 10 July Boston citizens met at Faneuil Hall to discuss the treaty’s implications. The crowd of 1,500 citizens opposed the Jay Treaty since it failed to guarantee reciprocity in Anglo-American trade and did not address two long-simmering issues: the British Navy’s impressment of American sailors and compensation for property lost during the American Revolution. Three days later, acting on behalf of the citizens at the meeting, Boston selectmen sent Washington a list of nineteen resolutions encapsulating their views.

Boston’s opposition kindled resistance to the Jay Treaty elsewhere. As protest grew, Benjamin Franklin Bache printed the Jay Treaty and widely distributed copies to every state. Philadelphia citizens marked the Fourth of July by burning the agreement along with effigies of John Jay. Dissent gripped the southern states as well. James Madison petitioned the Virginia legislature, echoing concerns that the treaty’s terms assigned an inferior status to the United States. Washington’s subsequent replies to the Boston selectmen and to citizens in Richmond, Va., helped to ease the popular protest, for which see his letter of 20 Aug. to JA, and note 1, below (Todd Estes, 412 The Jay Treaty Debate, Public Opinion, and the Evolution of Early American Political Culture, Amherst, Mass., 2006, p. 73, 74, 75, 77, 92–93, 98, 137; Washington, Papers, Presidential Series , 18:327–332).

George Washington to John Adams, 20 August 1795 Washington, George Adams, John

From George Washington

Dear Sir, Philadelphia 20th. Augt 1795

I have received your favor of the 10th. inst. with its enclosures.— They contain a great deal of interesting matter;—and No. 9 discloses much important information, and political foresight.— For this proof of your kindness, and confidence, I pray You to accept my best, & most cordial thanks.—

Mr: J. Adams, your son, must not think of retiring from the walk he is now in:—his prospects, if he continues in it, are fair:—and I shall be much mistaken if, in as short a period as can well be expected, he is not found at the head of the Diplomatique Corps;—let the government be administered by whomsoever the people may chuse.—

The embarrassment into which he was thrown, by the unforeseen events which so soon took place in Holland, after he had received his first instructions, & had arrived in that country, have long since been removed; and he can be at no loss now, as to the course he is to pursue.—

Long before this letter can have reached you, my answer to the Boston Resolutions will, I presume, have made its appearance in the Gazettes of that place, notwithstanding the delays it met with in getting thither—first, from a mistake of the Postmaster in Alexandria; who, mixing it with the dispatches which were addressed to me returned it by the messenger who carried my letters to his office—this necessarily detained it three days;—and the immense falls of rain, and destruction of bridges which followed, prevented all travelling for at least three days more1

Whether it was from the spark which kindled the fire in Boston, that the flames have spread so extensively;—or whether the torch, by a pre-concerted plan was lit, ready for the explosion in all parts, so soon as the advice to ratify the treaty should be announced, remains to be developed, but as the Ratification thereof, agreeably to the advice of the Senate, has passed from me, these meetings in opposition to the constituted authority, are as useless, as they are at all times improper and dangerous.—

My best respects to Mrs. Adams and with sincere regard and friendship / I am—Dear Sir / Your affecte. Hble. Servt

Go: Washington 413

RC (Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York); internal address: “The Honble. John Adams”; endorsed: “The Presidents Letter / upon N. 9. / August 20. 1795.”

Washington replied to the Boston selectmen on 28 July, reiterating the constitutional power of the president to negotiate foreign treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate. Strong wind, heavy rain, and the actions of Alexandria, Va., postmaster James Mease McRea (ca. 1765–1809) initially hampered his effort, but over the following months multiple newspapers printed Washington’s letter (Washington, Papers, Presidential Series , 18:441–443, 19:48; Washington, Diaries , 6:204; Boston Independent Chronicle, 17 Aug.; Norwich Packet, 26 Aug.; Augusta, Ga., Chronicle, 5 Sept.; Albany Gazette, 23 Oct.).